Passionada

Sensual 30-something widow Celia (Sofia Milos) is pressed into dating by her gruff, also-widowed mother-in-law (Lupe Ontiveros) and teen daughter Vicky (Emmy Rossum) in this shallow, predictable serio-comic romance set in a Massachusetts Portuguese-American fishing community. Celia works days as a seamstress and nights as a cabaret singer. Vicky sets her up with a ludicrous Internet date, makes late-night excursions to a nearby casino and offers to help gambler Charlie (Jason Isaacs) woo her mom if he will teach her how to count cards. The chestnut rub here is that the card shark convinces Celia that he is a rich businessman, and this deception inevitably surfaces and threatens their love affair. Theresa Russell and Seymour Cassel steal the film as a couple with a shady history and ties to Charlie. The film was directed by Seattle International Film Festival co-founder Dan Ireland (The Whole Wide World).